DISNEY is increasing the price of its Disney+ streaming service in the US as it introduces a new subscription tier that displays ads during shows.
The price increase is related to Disney's new tiered service launching in December for US subscribers.
Today's basic Disney+ service costs $7.99 per month.
Beginning in December, ads will appear on the basic service, so subscribers who don't want ads should upgrade to the premium service, which starts at $10.99 per month, which is 37% higher than the current price.
The annual plan costs $109.99.
This means that viewers who want to stick to their current rate plans will have to watch ads during their favorite shows and movies.
This change could come as early as next year, once the ad-supported service launches in the UK.
"The ad demographic is so popular that some people will want to keep using it without ads," her chief financial officer, Christine McCarthy, said on a conference call with analysts.
The price spike comes at a terrible time for consumers already weighed down by rising costs of living.
Netflix's most popular streaming plan in the US is now $15.50/month, with the top plan at $20/month.
This follows several price hikes to help pay for the original shows, and after a licensing deal between the companies expired, Disney released the shows and classic films on Netflix. This has become even more significant since it pulled back from .
Disney said Disney+ subscribers increased by 14.4 million in the April-June fiscal quarter.
All Disney streaming services, including Hulu and ESPN+, have combined subscriber numbers of about 221 million, putting the entertainment giant just ahead of Netflix in the streaming wars.
Netflix gained 220.7 million subscribers in June after losing nearly 1 million subscribers last quarter.
According to Disney, paid subscriptions to Disney+ have increased by 31%, mostly overseas, compared to the same period last year.
However, revenue growth was not as strong due to operating losses due to higher programming and production, technology and marketing costs.
The Burbank, Calif.-based entertainment giant beats Wall Street expectations in Wednesday's quarterly results as Disney's streaming sales grow and its theme park business rebounds after pandemic-era shutdowns. I was.
Disney reported revenue of $21.5 billion in the three months ending July 2, up 26% from the same period last year.
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